expand
Latest
Engadget Live Boston is this Friday!
Our third Engadget Live event of 2014 hits Boston this Friday, August 22nd. At 7PM on the dot, we'll transform Royale into a scene that even Stefon would consider worthy of being Boston's hottest club. Tap your way through the gallery below to find out what you can expect when you come out to our free event.
Even more awesomeness to expect at Engadget Live Boston
If you're a Boston area resident who loves technology, we've got something for you to do on Friday, August 22nd. Join us at Royale at 7PM for our editorial dance-off third Engadget Live event of the year. Flip through the gallery below to find out why this is a cant-miss event.
RJD2 will join us at our free Engadget Expand event in NYC!
On November 7th and 8th, Engadget Expand heads back to New York City's Javits Center and this time around, admission is free! And if the Big Apple isn't where you'll be that weekend, no sweat -- we'll keep you updated with live streams from the stage and dispatches from the show floor. Now that we've got your attention (hopefully), let's experience the future of technology together, shall we?
Boston's due up next on our Engadget Live tour!
Beantown, Titletown, Bahston or Bawston; whatever you call this strong Massachusetts city or how you pronounce it, we're excited to be heading back there. On Friday August 22nd, we'll head to Royale on Tremont St. at 7PM for our third Engadget Live of the year. But why is this the can't-miss event of the summer? Click through our gallery below to find out.
Engadget took over Austin for a night and here's what happened
Bombs were dropped on our Editor-in-Chief while he innocently drove away in a Jeep. Engadget readers enjoyed alcohol in both vaporized and brewed form. A totally retro retailer crashed the party with its unique helmets. Those are just some of our favorite things that happened last Friday when we took over Austin Music Hall to kick off our Engadget Live series!
Let us fund your hardware dreams: Submit your project for the 2014 Insert Coin competition
It's May 16, and you know what that means? You only have 133 days to submit your Insert Coin entries and get the chance to win some serious cash to fund that childhood dream or that brilliant idea you just know will be huge. We want to hear about that innovative creation -- and we'd love if you can send it in before the submission deadline on September 26th. Just like last year, the Judge's Choice will get a $10,000 prize, while the Reader's Choice will get $15,000. This time, though, we don't only accept pre-crowdfunded projects: those currently being crowdfunded or in their post-crowdfunding stages are very much welcome, as well. Engadget editors will also review the winning products to drum up interest and hopefully help you reach your funding goal like DiWire Bender and Ziphius (our first ever Insert Coin winner!) did in 2013. Before we crown those two projects that embody the innovation we're looking for, however, we're first choosing 10 that stand out the most among the crowd. If you end up as one of the 10 semi-finalists, we're giving you Expand New York tickets, a $1,000 travel stipend, a space on the show floor and a chance to demo your invention in front of live and online audiences. Hopefully, you've got your stage fright under control by November to win both readers and judges over. Now that we've got you pumped to share your brainchild with everyone, get that project ready for victory and head over to our submission page.
Engadget Live is coming to Austin on June 20th!
Austin, we love you. We mutually understand that things should be kept weird (otherwise, life would be boring). With that in mind, we're kicking off the Engadget Live series in the live music capital of the world: 7PM on June 20th at the Austin Music Hall! Austin's Chaotic Moon, the people behind this damn electricity-shooting helicopter will stun you with another incredible creation. Perhaps you want a life-sized replica of Oprah printed? Re3D's got you covered with the world's largest 3D printer. Building a robot? Charmed Labs' Pixy is a sensor that can teach it to find things and you'll get to check it out. Techjango, which brought us the Darkmatter Xbox laptop, will show off even more gadgets for makers. If that wasn't enough, AF1 Racing will bring its totally electric (and fast!) Zero Motorcycle so you can experience it yourself.
Expand NY happens in November, but you can buy tickets for it RIGHT NOW
If you didn't make it to Expand SF or Expand NY 2013, we won't hold it against you, but the truth is, you missed out. Don't make the same mistake again. The third edition of Expand is happening in New York City this fall, and you can buy your tickets to attend immediately. Twenty bucks gets you a two-day pass to all the festivities, and students get in the door for half that -- of course, we have individual day passes available, too, and you can get the full rundown of your ticketing options right here. What do your dollars buy you? Only access to some of the coolest people and technologies on the planet. We're talking giant robots, virtual reality demos and even workshops to teach you how to hack together your very own gadgets! Plus, you'll get to hang out with fellow tech-heads and your favorite Engadget editors, too. So, check out the Expands of the past, then go grab your tickets to the future. You'll be glad you did.
Engadget Live in 2014: bringing gadgets and geeks together in a city near you! (maybe)
2013 was a banner year for our fledgling series of gadget get-togethers, Engadget Live. Now that 2014 is here, we're running it back with a slate of events across the country that'll be better than ever. For the uninitiated, Engadget Live is all about bringing folks together to geek out on the latest gadgets -- and for us to connect with you, our readers, face-to-face (as opposed to face-to-screen). Naturally, it also gives you a chance to play with the latest gear from companies you know and love, and maybe from some companies you don't know, but should love. If that's not enough to entice you, perhaps the promise of free stuff will do the trick. We'll be giving away a bunch of that very same gear and tons of swag to attendees at every event. The tour kicks off on Friday, June 20th in Austin, Texas -- with stops in Seattle on July 18th, Boston on August 22nd and Los Angeles on October 3rd. Just hit the linked locations above, and you can buy your tickets to any Engadget Live right now for FREE. Oh, and keep in mind our nationwide tour culminates in the third Engadget Expand conference in New York City on November 7-8. We'll have more info to share about each Engadget Live (and Expand, too) as we get closer to each event, so keep your eye on Engadget.com to get all the latest updates. Still, you should mark your calendars now, and we'd recommend arriving early to every Live event -- the lines can be city blocks long. And, if you're a company interested in sponsoring or participating in any Engadget Live, drop us a line at sponsors@engadget.com. See y'all there!
Expand NY 2013 wrap-up
Did you end up missing out on the sheer abundance of technology that was Expand New York 2013? Don't fret: we've rounded up everything from our expo. Whether you're interested in the Insert Coin competitors, our hands-on time with new products or discussions with big names like LeVar Burton and Spike Lee, you'll find all the articles and media you need. Check out the full range of stories after the break -- it's the next best thing to having been there in person. [Image credit: Jenna Bascom, Flickr]
The Engadget Show 47: Insert Coin - New Challengers
We got to hang with Spike Lee, LeVar Burton, Reggie Watts, Ayah Bdeir, David Gerrold, Bens Heck and Huh and Rachel Haot. We played around with Occulus Rift, some electric skateboards, a surgical robot and a few 3D scanners. Once again, however, our Insert Coin competition was arguably the highlight of the whole Expand event. Ten products competing for two big prizes, to help jumpstart their crowdfunding campaigns. Once again, the diversity of the projects was staggering -- a fact that no doubt made it all the more difficult for our panel of illustrious judges to pick just one winner. In this second of two Engadget Show Expand specials, we follow the journey of our top five finalists, MyBell, GrowCubes, Smart Power Strip, DiWire and Blink Scan. Huge congrats as always to all the semi-finalists and a big ole thanks to co-host Mark Frauenfelder and our four-judge panel.
Daily Roundup: PlayStation 4 facts, coding in the education system, PlayJam GameStick review and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Relive Engadget Expand NY 2013 in pictures
Many thousands of New Yorkers joined us over the weekend for the city's very first Engadget Expand. There's no question that our premier Manhattan show was a raging success, and if you didn't make it out, we have the pictures to prove it. During the two-day event we heard from LeVar Burton, Spike Lee, Reggie Watts, Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky, Cheezburger's Ben Huh, MIT's Joi Ito, and dozens of other brilliant speakers and industry leaders. We handed out $25,000 to Insert Coin winners DIWire Bender and GrowCubes, and sponsors like Lenovo, Sony and Chevrolet kept attendees entertained at the Javits Center with tons of new blockbuster gadgets (and even a few cars). We enlisted photographers Jenna Bascom and Craig Barritt to capture all of the Expand NY magic -- dig through dozens of killer pics in the galleries just below.
The Engadget Show 46: Expand NY with LeVar Burton, Reggie Watts, Rachel Haot and more!
It's true, we're still beaming - which is saying a lot for a Monday morning coming off of little to no sleep. And while we'd have been slightly grumpy working through the weekend in nearly any other scenario, we just spent three days with 10,000 or so friends, colleagues and tech superstars, so we can't really complain too much. It's tough to pick a favorite moment from the inaugural Engadget Expand New York. Maybe it was watching LeVar Burton engage in a discussion with Timothy Jordan from the Google Glass team. It may well have been seeing Reggie Watts talk wearables with Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky or witnessing Spike Lee get scanned with 3D Systems' new Sense handheld. Granted, we've only done this twice, but we think we can safely say that something magical happens when you put a lot of smart, creative types in a room for a couple of days. Between the giant robotic leg, Raspberry Pi competition, 3D printers, Occulus Rifts and two days packed with all-star panels, it was heck of a weekend. We realize not everyone could join us, of course, so hopefully this latest episode of The Engadget Show will serve as some consolation. At the very least, you'll get to see a robotic snake and at least one editor riding around on an electric skateboard. Surely that's worth at least 11 minutes of your time. Oh, and stay tuned tomorrow, for yet another episode of the show from the floor of Expand!
Mad Catz' STRIKE M gaming keyboard fits in your pocket, cramps your fingers
Diminutive Bluetooth keyboards? Yeah, we've seen those before, but we've never really been able to fault them for their size. These tiny peripherals are meant for light work at best, but the Mad Catz STRIKE M wears a facade that outpaces its utility. From its skewed angles, to its collection of quick keys, under its backlit keycaps and behind the highlighted WASD keys -- the STRIKE M wears the colors of a serious gaming keyboard. It isn't one. Excusing its appearance, the STRIKE M is actually a decent little HTPC keyboard. It has a suite of media keys, an embedded scrollwheel and even an thumb mousepad -- but the actual keyboard layout is just too small to match its design language. Laying hands on the keyboard's home row required us to mash our fingertips tightly together, offering a cramped, uncomfortable typing experience. These tiny keys leave no room for error, and require precision to a degree that makes the red-accented WASD seem ridiculous. Showing off the keyboard at Expand NY, Mad Catz' representative actually agreed, saying it's more of a media keyboard than a gaming one. Still, he showed us the one advantage its size offers: the device fits comfortably in a jacket pocket. It's something, at least.
Changes to copyright laws could be very good or very bad; it depends on who's involved
When it comes to data we upload to the web and digital content in all its forms, it's hard to tell who owns it. At Expand NY's panel today, Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) Julie Samuels, Techdirt's Mike Masnick and American University Washington College of Law professor, Michael Carroll discussed that very issue in the context of the user data lockdown from Megaupload, legal concepts of digital ownership and privacy and how increasingly irrelevant copyright laws could change in the future.
And your Insert Coin winners are: DIWire and GrowCubes!
The votes have been tallied, the judges have conferred and we have a pair of winners in our Insert Coin competition. First up, our panel of experts have settled on a victor after much debate, and Pensa Labs will be taking home the $10,000 judge's prize for its DIWire. The automated wire-bending machine is sure to find a home in many a maker's workshop. The readers though, chose something different. Attendees and viewers at home cast their support for GrowCubes. The idea of stackable greenhouses small enough for a New York City apartment really captured the imagination of the public. And for that they'll be taking home the $15,000 reader's prize. So congratulations to our winners! Of course, the story doesn't end here for any of our Insert Coin competitors. We're sure some successful crowdfunding campaigns lie in their futures.
The future of motion interfaces: Wave goodbye to the mouse
We're still big fans of Douglas Engelbart's original pointing device, but human/computer input is moving past traditional peripherals. We're rapidly approaching a future of touchscreens, motion sensors and visual imaging control solutions. "Gone are the days, probably, of the keyboard, mouse and maybe even touch input," Samsung's Shoneel Kolhatkar told us. During a panel on the future of gesture and motion controls at Expand NY, Kolhatkar suggested that these technologies could fade away within the next 20 years. His fellow panelists, Pelican Imaging's Paul Gallagher and Leap Motion's Avinash Dabir agree that there's more to the future of computing than the traditional point and click.
Forget devices; the future of technology is seeded in biology
A lot of you, dear readers, may remember a time when mobile phones didn't exist, let alone smartphones with touchscreens, apps and pro-grade cameras. Some may even recall a childhood completely devoid of TV, when the phrase "playing in a sandbox" meant literally that. Not content with books that glow in the dark, among other electronic conveniences, we're now strapping computers to our heads and a second smartphone screen to our wrists. io9's Annalee Newitz and Joichi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab, took to our Expand stage to talk about what technology of the future might look like, and both agreed we'll see much less built from circuits, and much more from (somewhat) natural ingredients.
Here are your five Insert Coin finalists, cast your vote now!
It's been a long day of demos, tough questions and talking to potential consumers for our Insert Coin competitors. But the judges and readers have spoken, and we have our five finalists. MyBell, DIWire, GrowCubes, Smart Power Strip and BlinkScan will be moving on to the next round where they'll be competing for two prizes: one awarded by our panel of judges, and the other chosen by you the readers. Your vote here will select the winner of the $15,000 Reader's Choice Award from the slate of the five finalists. Read more about each project, along with the finalist projects, before casting your vote very carefully. Voting starts at 6:30 PM EST on Saturday, November 9 and closes at 4:30 PM EST on Sunday, November 10!
